Find and destroy, or how to remove the smell of mold using improvised means
An unpleasant musty smell in the room indicates the presence of mold. This fungus loves damp places, poorly ventilated or unheated areas.
Mold is hazardous to your health and can spread, so if it smells, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible.
The most important thing to do for this is to eliminate its source. That is, it is important to find where the mold has settled and remove it.
Content
What will help you get rid of it?
The first thing to do is find the source of the smell. Mold usually affects walls in areas with high humidity, such as the bathroom or kitchen. It can also live under wallpaper, in the corners of the room, on the carpet, furniture or in the closet.
To remove mold, first of all, you need to reduce the humidity in the rooms, eliminate leaking pipes, and dry all things. Sometimes, to completely get rid of fungus and its smell, it is necessary to make repairs.
Read more about mold removal methods Here. He will tell you how to remove mold on walls This article; on the ceiling - this publication; read how to remove fungus on wallpaper Here.
In the apartment
So, how to remove the smell of mold in an apartment? It is necessary to treat the affected areas with one of the folk remedies:
add 1 part bleach to 10 parts water;- Spray hydrogen peroxide on the stains, but it can eat away the color, so you should use it carefully on painted surfaces;
- ammonia is used to treat hard surfaces, first diluting it in half with water.
Eliminating the mold itself is not enough; you also need to restore the pleasant smell in the apartment. To do this, you can make a flavoring agent: pour diluted vinegar into a spray bottle, add a few drops of essential oil, preferably tea tree.
You can also use:
- incense sticks,
- candles,
- aroma lamps.
If this doesn't help, you can buy an HG odor neutralizer.
In bathroom
There is always high humidity here, so unpleasant smells appear most often.
If this does not help, you can purchase the industrial product “Stop Dampness”. It absorbs moisture and prevents mold and mold odors.
And to clean the walls and floors from black spots, you can use Anti-Mold. This product also removes unpleasant odors.
Read about how to remove mold in the bathroom Here, about eliminating fungus on sealant - here.
On the balcony
Despite the fact that the balcony is constantly ventilated, mold often forms there, especially in damp and cold weather.
To eliminate fungus and the unpleasant odor from it, you need to treat all surfaces with the following solution. Dilute into 10 liters of warm water:
- 2 tablespoons of acetic acid;
- 500 g of copper sulfate.
An easier way is to wash the balcony with chlorine bleach.
On upholstered furniture
It is difficult to remove mold from such surfaces. It is best to do this outside to immediately ventilate the furniture:
- First, remove the stain with a brush.
- Then you need to treat it with a soda solution; if the pile is long, you can sprinkle soda on the stain.
- After 2 hours, you need to remove the soda, rinse the surface and dry well with a hairdryer.
From the refrigerator
The refrigerator often smells unpleasant. Not only can this ruin your appetite, but it is also harmful to your health.
Therefore, you need to immediately wash all surfaces of the refrigerator with laundry soap.. After this, wash again with your regular detergent mixed with lemon juice.
You can also use special industrial products. OdorGon spray effectively eliminates odors. It is safe as it contains plant essential oils.
This video will show you how to get rid of mold in the refrigerator after a long vacation:
From a thermos
If stored improperly, a moldy smell may appear in the thermos. But you can also get rid of it.
To do this, pour a few tablespoons of salt and pour boiling water over it.. After a day, rinse, pour boiling water and the juice of half a lemon. Leave for an hour, then rinse and dry well.
You can also fill the thermos with boiling water with soda and vinegar. After an hour, rinse well.
Odors can be absorbed by:
- ground coffee;
- grains of rice;
- Activated carbon.
On clothes
An unpleasant musty odor may appear on clothes if the fungus settles in the closet. This can happen when damp things are stored there or the walls behind it are affected by fungus.
If your clothes still smell unpleasant, you need to wash them with bleach.. You can rinse them in a solution of vinegar or lemon juice. But this is suitable for light things.
The rest of the clothes can be washed with a special odor remover. After washing, you need to dry it in the air, preferably in the sun.
Those things that cannot be washed, such as jackets, should be wiped with a cut onion or a cloth soaked in a vinegar solution.
There is also an industrial Active Wash product. It is suitable for all types of fabrics, and not only eliminates unpleasant odors, but also cleans clothes.
You can read more about removing mold from fabrics in this article, about removing fungus from clothes - Here.
In shoes
Storing wet shoes can cause them to develop a musty odor. This is often discovered in the fall when winter shoes are taken out of the closet. You don’t have to get rid of it right away; the unpleasant smell can be easily removed.
For this Shoes should be washed with warm water and soap, and the inside should be wiped with a solution of chlorine bleach., and then treat with a mixture of vodka and ammonia. After this, dry the shoes well in the air, preferably in the sun.
If shoes or boots cannot be washed, remove the mold with a brush. After this, wipe it with a napkin soaked in a vinegar solution. Then the shoes need to be dried well with a towel and ventilated in the air.
If the unpleasant smell is only inside the shoes, you need to throw out the old insoles and put cotton swabs soaked in vinegar inside. Every other day, pour coarse salt or ground coffee into your shoes..
Over the course of a few days they will absorb the odors. After this, treat the shoes with ammonia, dry and insert new insoles.
Prevention
Once the mold odor is removed, care must be taken to ensure that it does not reappear.
If mold often appears in the corners, you can place a container in which 100 g of salt and 20-30 crushed tablets of activated carbon are mixed.
Conclusion
To remove the smell of mold from any premises and household items, its cause must be eliminated.
After destroying the fungus itself, you need to treat the surfaces with vinegar, lemon juice or a solution of tea tree essential oil. These products will not only add a pleasant aroma, but will also prevent the appearance of mold.
